A Ghost in the Machine? Politics in Global Health Policy

Document Type : Editorial

Authors

1 Department of Epidemiology & Public Health Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

2 Division of Population Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

Members of the 67th World Health Assembly in 2014 were presented with a framework document to guide World Health Organization (WHO) engagement with non-state actors, a key part of WHO reform kick-started in 2011. According to this document, non-state actors include four distinct constituencies: i) nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), ii) private sector entities; iii) philanthropic foundations; iv) academic institutions (1).

Keywords

Main Subjects


1.            World Health Organization (WHO). Framework of Engagement with non-State Actors - Report by the Secretariat (5 May), 2014.
2.            Hawkes N. \"Irrelevant\" WHO outpaced by younger rivals. BMJ 2014; 343: d5012.doi: 10.1136/bmj.d5012
3.            Clift C. The Role of the World Health Organization in the International System. London: Chatham House; 2013.
4.            Chow JC. Is the WHO becoming irrelevant? [internet].  2010. Available from: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/12/08/is_the_who_becoming_irrelevant.
5.            PBS. Interview: Richard Feachem.  2005 [cited 2014 May].Foreign Policy 8 Dec. Available from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/interviews/feachem.html.
6.            Barnes A, Brown GW. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Expertise, Accountability and the Depoliticisation of Global Health Governance. In: Williams O, S Rushton, editors. Global Health and Partnerships and Private Foundations: New Frontiers in Health and Health Governance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2011. p. 53-75.
7.            Rivers B. Board Assignment - Find a Leader Who Is Remarkable in New Ways [internet]. Global Fund Observer 2006; 55. Available from: http://www.aidspan.org/gfo_article/board-assignment-find-leader-who-remarkable-new-ways
8.            Das P. Richard Feachem: scaling the heights of global health leadership. Lancet 2010; 376: 1533.doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62018-1
9.            Walt G, Shiffman J, Schneider H, Murray SF, Brugha R, Gilson L. \'Doing\' health policy analysis: methodological and conceptual reflections and challenges. Health Policy Plan 2008; 23: 308-17.doi: 10.1093/heapol/czn024
10.          Harmer A, Bruen C. The GAVI Alliance. In: Hale T, D Held, editors. Handbook of Transnational Governance: New Institutions and Innovations. London: Polity Press; 2011. p. 384-94.
11.          Muraskin W. The Last Years of the CVI and the Birth of GAVI. In: Reich M, editor. Public-Private Partnerships for Public Health. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Centre for Population & Development Studies; 2002. p. 115-68.
12.          Muraskin W. Crusade to Immunize the World\'s Children. Los Angeles: USC Marshall Global BioBusiness Initiative; 2005.
13.          World Health Organization (WHO). Report of a meeting on health sector reform and priority health interventions: the case of immunisation services. Washington 15-16 Nov 1999. Washington, DC: WHO Department of Vaccines &Biologicals.
14.          Lidén J. The Grand Decade for Global Health: 1998–2008.  Chatham House Working Group on Governance. London: Chatham House; 2013.
15.          Ottawa Group. Report on the Follow Up to the Ottawa Meeting, 15-16 Feb 2001.
16.          House of Representatives, United States 106th Congress. House Report 106-548 - World Bank AIDS Marshall Plan Trust Fund Act (H.R. 3519), 2000.
17.          UK Development Committee. Minutes of the UK Development Committee, 20 Sep 2001.
18.          Ooms G, Hammonds R. Right to health and global public health research: from tensions to synergy? Trop Med Int Health 2014; 19: 620-4. doi: 10.1111/tmi.12287
19.          Bernier NF, Clavier C. Public health policy research: making the case for a political science approach. Health PromotInt2011; 26: 109-16. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daq079
20.          Liverani M, Hawkins B, Parkhurst JO. Political and institutionalinfluences on the use of evidence in public health policy. Asystematic review. PLoS One 2013; 8: e77404. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077404
21.          Barnes A, Parkhurst J. Can Global Health Policy be Depoliticized? A Critique of Global Calls for Evidence-Based Policy. In: Brown GW, G Yamey, S Wamala, editors. The Handbook of Global Health policy. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2014. p. 158-73.
22.          Brugha R, Bruen C, Tangcharoensathien V. Understanding Global Helath Policy. In: Brown GW, G Yamey, S Wamala, editors. The Handbook of Global Health policy. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2014. p. 21-45.